Monday, November 19, 2007

Well digging - day 1

The decision to dig a well and to find the means to finance it isn't an easy one. I guess for that reason I've been hauling water all of these years. Now it's time to get on with the program. The summers (the dry season) are getting longer every year and the dust thicker. The tires on my car are wearing thin, as is my patience for the lack of infrastructure at Bosque Santa Lucia. Early this morning Sr. Assis arrived in his small pickup loaded to the gill with his team of four men and equipment for digging the well. By midday the equipment was in place and the drilling scheduled to begin in the afternoon. Depending on obstacles, like rock, it's expected to take 2-3 weeks. Assis tells me that his men are capable of drilling down to 80 meters with the auger, if necessary. The average depth for this kind of well in the neighborhood is about 60 meters.